OBSERVATIONS ON HHMATOZOA IN CEYLON. 399 
of the nucleus and the length of the flagellum can hardly be 
regarded as sufficiently constant to be diagnostic. The 
length of the tail or portion of the body behind the centro- 
some or blepharoplast is rather characteristic, but this, again, 
fluctuates. 
It seems hardly worth while to attempt a detailed differ- 
entiation of species from different hosts until some method 
of culture can be devised which will reveal the true properties 
of each. There is at present no basis of comparison, and it 
seems that none isafforded by the mere retention of Try pano- 
soma under observation for several days in citrated blood. 
In T. saccobranchi the caudal prolongation is obsolescent, 
the centrosome being placed very far backwards, much as in 
T. danilewskyi, Lay. Mesn., from Cyprinus carpio. 
Dr. Lingard has recorded the presence of Trypanosoma 
in the blood of several species of freshwater fishes in 
India, namely, Trichogaster fasciatus, Ophiocephalus 
striatus, Macrones seenghala,and Macrones tengara.! 
He noted that the fishes that live in mud are more frequently 
infected than others, and that the parasites appeared in 
greatest number during the months of May and June. 
We have not seen Dr. Lingard’s original Report in which 
the above observations were published, but it is to be pre- 
sumed that he obtained his material in Northern India, since 
only one of the above-named fishes ranges so far south as 
Ceylon, namely the Ophiocephalus striatus, known 
locally as the “lulla.””? The examination of the blood of one 
individual of this species from a tank at Mamadu, in the 
Northern Province of Ceylon, gave negative results. It 
would be interesting to examine the blood of a large number 
of specimens from different tanks, an investigation which, 
merely from the standpoint of distribution and environment, 
might yield important information. 
With regard to Trypanosoma saccobranchi from the 
polluted Colombo Lake we have found it abundantly in the 
months of August and September. On the other hand, the 
1 Laveran et Mesuil, op. cit., 1904, p. 379. 
vot. 49, PART 2.—NEW SERIES. 28 
